A grumpy Jose Mourinho cut short his pre-match interview on Saturday as the Chelsea manager stormed off insisting 'before the game this is too long' just as the line of questioning turned toward John Stones.

Chelsea failed with four big-money bids for the Everton defender this summer, the latest amounting to £38million, but Mourinho was in no mood to discuss it ahead of the clash at Goodison Park.

A prickly Mourinho, whose Chelsea side have faced criticism for their early-season form, appeared agitated even before BT Sport touchline reporter Ray Stubbs began questioning the Portuguese manager.

Jose Mourinho was not happy with the length of time his pre-match interview went on for

Mourinho cut short the questioning just as the subject changed to John Stones

BT Sport Viewers were left looking at the advertising board as Mourinho quickly made his way out of the shot

And the interview ended after less than two minutes with a sullen-faced Mourinho interjecting while Stubbs was in the middle of asking: 'Everton fans will remind you today that you couldn't sign John Stones, do you think that adds an extra dimension?'

'Before the game, this is too long. This is too long, I'm sorry,' Mourinho said as he walked off screen.

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Chelsea only have four points from their first four games but Mourinho insisted that was not reflective of their level of performance.

When asked what was wrong with the performances this season, Mourinho responded bluntly: 'Results. Results. We performed better than the results.'

Mourinho gives the thumbs-up from the dugout at Goodison Park ahead of kick-off

Mourinho was not keen to discuss Chelsea's failed bids for Everton defender John Stones

He added: 'I am more happy with the performances than the results. The results are bad, the performances are not bad.'

John Terry was recalled to the starting line-up following his one-game suspension in place of Gary Cahill but Mourinho admitted he had hesitations about selecting the captain.

'I had hesitations. I have three central defenders ready to play and in good condition. It is always hard to leave someone out that is working well and hard.

'John (Terry) was working with me for the last 15 days, Cahill was with the national team and he played 90 minutes against Switzerland and John and Zouma they didn't. So Cahill will be back to play in the Champions League next Wednesday.